Rotary well drilling unit



April 1938. I J. E. BRANTLY ET AL 2,115,297

ROTARY WELL DRILLING UNIT Filed Nov. 13, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' W 02%ATTORNEYS April 26, 1938. J BRANTLY r L 2,115,297

' ROTARY WELL DRILLING UNIT Filed Nov. 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BYL/OHNMSH/MER.

W ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 26, 1938 h 2,115,297

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,115,297 ROTARY WELL DRILLING UNIT John E.Brantly, Avenal, Calif., and John M. Shimer, Dallas, Tex., assignors toOil Well Supply Company, Dallas, Tex., a corporation of New JerseyApplication November 13, 1936, Serial No. 110,726 6 Claims. (Cl.255-119) This invention relates to a rotary well 'drillrotary itself tobe operated from the drawworks ing apparatus of the type used indrilling deep in case its own power should fail in an emergency.

petroleum wells. The various features of the invention are illus- Rotarywell drilling apparatus for drilling wells trated by way of example inthe accompanying of this type comprises a power driven rotating drawingsin which 5 horizontal table through which a vertical drill Fig. 1 is aplan view and Fig. 2 a vertical side stem extends in such manner that itis engaged elevation of a rotary table and the driving mechand rotatedon its axis with the table, but may anism therefor, and Fig. 3 is avertical sectional slide vertically, thus enabling it to descend as viewof part of the apparatusshown in Figs. 1

the well becomes deeper and to be lifted for the and 2 and showingcertain coupling mechanisms, 10

insertion of additional lengths of drill stem. The change speedmechanism and a part of the enpower for rotating the table and forhoisting and gine casing to which the latter is secured. lowering thedrill stem has heretofore generally In our present invention the rotarytable and been transmitted froma common source of power an engine fordriving it are mounted as a com- -through a drawworks at the side of thederrick. plete unit on a common base so that all of the II Thisdrawworks comprises a hoisting drum and elements of the unit are inpermanent, definite change speed driving mechanisms for rotating itpositions relative to each other and so that it at selected speeds andalso asprocket from which may be moved into position and operated as a achain extends above the floor of the derrick unit. Power is transmittedfrom the engine to the rotating table located at the center of thethrough a change speed mechanism which is go derrick. mounted on theengine or on the base of the This arrangement for driving the rotarytable engine and therefore in rigidly fixed position and the hoistingmechanism has a number of disrelative to the drive shaft of the latter.Power advantages among which are the space taken up from the changespeed mechanism is transmitted within the derrick by the sprocket chainand through a coupling to a shaft driving the rotary. 25 its guardextending from the drawworks to the Also mounted on the rotary shaftwith the courotary, the noise and wear of the rotary chain pling is asprocket wheel through which the and the difliculty in setting therotary in posirotary may be driven from an outside source of tion todrill a t 11018" to receive t grief power when the coupling isuncoupled. Mounted stem when the latter is hauled out of. the well on tshaft of the change speed mechanism 30 and .discflnflected from thehoisting apparatusadjacent the coupling is a sprocket wheel whichMoreover, a more powerful engine is required to may b employed foremergency driving of the operate the-hoists than to rotate the rotaryand hoism The coupling may be of any suitable although the rotary is Ofor a type, preferably a pair of sprocket wheels ar- 8 time than thehoists t engine for ranged coaxially on the adjacent ends of their 36Supplying the power must be large enough to respective shafts and withclosely adjacent faces operate the hoists. Therefore the engine is runso that when a chain is wrapped about these memcienfly for a large partof the time during wheels with the links spanning the spaces behich itis driving only the rotary. The couw tween teeth of both wheels, theshafts on which 40 pling of the rotary and hoisting apparatus to a rcommon source of power through the drawworks these sprocket wheels aremounted are coupled also renders the control of the drilling operationstogether:

cumbersome because each operation of hoisting Referrmg morepartlcula'rly to F and 2 of and rotary drilling ls'govemed to someextent the accompanying drawings, a reversible engine why therequirements of the omen l0 and a drilling rotary II are mounted on aThese various disadvantages are obviated and P of Parallel Skids and ichform a avoided in our present invention in which the m n s or s pp forthe n ne and rotary is driven independently of the power for rotary. Theengine and ro ary m y h f r driving hoisting mechanisms or drawworks andbe handled as a unit. Power is transmitted from in which, therefore, asmaller power suited for the engine It througha change speed mechanism50 driving the rotary efliciently may be employed. such as the two speedtransmission H to a shaft Our present invention also has further adl5 tat ar s Sp Wheel and a vantages in making available this independentsprocket wheel I! that acts as one element of a rotary operating powerfor operating the hoists coupling. The other member of the coupling 56in case of emergencies and also in enabling the comprises a sprocketwheel l8 which is keyed shaft onto the drive shaft H of the rotary I I.A second sprocket 20 is also keyed on the shaft IS.

The construction of the two speed transmission and of the coupling andsprockets is shown more in detail in Fig. 3. As shown in this flgure,the change speed mechanism I4 is enclosed in a casing 2! having flanges22 through which it is open to the casing 24 of the engine I0. It isalso provided with sidewise flanges 25 and 25 which are supported on andbolted to an extension of the engine frame 21. The change speedmechanism is thus readily connected with the engine casing.

The engine l0 has a drive shaft 28 that projects through the engine wall29 into the transmission casing l4 and has keyed on it, within thecasing, a gear 30. The shaft 28 is in alignment with the i5, whichextends through anti-friction bearing 3| in the opposite wall of thecasing i4 and into an anti-friction bearing 32 mounted in a recess inthe gear which overhangs the end of the shaft 23. The end of the gear 33nearest the shaft I5 is recessed and provided with a number of internalteeth 33 that may be engaged by teeth 34 on a clutch element 35 slidablyaligned on an enlarged part of the shaft l5. The clutch element 35 maybe moved into the redess in the gear 38 by means of a sliding arm 35threaded onto the shaft 31 journalled in the upper part of thetransmission casing l4, and actuated by a crank 38. In this position theteeth 33 and 34 the shaft 15 is keyed directly through the clutchelement 35 and the gear 30 to the drive shaft 28. In this position ofthe clutch 35, therefore, the shaft I5 is to be driven directly and atthe same speed as the shaft 28. The two sprocket wheels l1 and I8 may becoupled together by means of a chain 33 having link pins 40 that spanthe two sprocket plates l1 and I8 and being positioned between the teethof the sprockets serve to couple them together. This is the arrangementin which the rotary would be a jack-shaft 42 on which is also of largerdiameter than the gear 4|. 42 is journalled between a pair ofanti-friction bearings 44 and 45 in the change speed casing. The gear 43in turn meshes with a smaller gear 45 rotatably mounted on rollerbearing 41 on the shaft l5. When the clutch 35 engages the gear 38, thegear 45 rotates freely on the shaft IS. The face of the gear 45 oppositethe gear 30 is provided with a toothed recess 48 which may receive teeth49 on the clutch 35 on the opposite side of the shifting lever 35 fromthe teeth 34. When the clutch 35 is shifted to the'left of teeth 33 theteeth 34 are unmeshed from the teeth of the gear 30 and upon furthermovement the teeth 43 engage the toothed recess 43 of the gear 45. Theshaft I5 is then free to rotate relative to the gear 30 but is keyedtothe gear 45 and is through the speed multiplying mechanism of thegears 30, 4|, 43 and 45.

The gear casing i4 may be of any suitable construction and is preferablyprovided with a closure plate 50 for the end of the shaft 42 and ofsufficient size to permit the removal of this shaft and its bearingsafter removing the gears 42. This closure plate 58 is secured to aremovable wall 5| of the casing which upon removal gives access to theentire interior of the casing. Access to the shifting rod 31 also can beobtained by means of other removable closures 52. The sprockets l5 and20 may be formed integral with driven therefore the sprockets l1 and I8respectively, and may be keyed to their respective shafts l5 and IS incommon with the respective sprocket wheels l1 and l8.

The above arrangement ,provides an independent rotary driving atedindependently of the usual drawworks hoist mechanism. The engine It may,of a size suitable for driving the rotary and may, therefore, beefliciently operated. In drilling a rat hole the unit may be shifted asa whole to one side of the well being drilled without the necessity ofre-aligning connecting parts the draw-works. The engine may be reversedfor unhooking, or other purposes, without interfering with the hoistingmechanism. The ability to operate the drill mechanism of the hoistingmechanism is also of advantage in certain operations, such as, fishingfor broken tools where it is highly desirable to control the hoist andand independent from rotary with great accuracy each other. Theprovision of the coupling 45 and of the two sprocket wheels l5 and 20also enables the rotary to be driven from the drawworks in emergenciessuch as a breakdown of the. engine l0, particularly when themid-Continental rig is employed, as in this case'sprocket 28 may bealigned with the driving sprocket on the draw-works. In this case therotary may be driven without effecting in any way the gear shiftmechanism'or associated parts.

In case the draw-works engine, or any parts associated with it, shouldbreak down the hoist may be driven in an emergency by connecting thesprocket wheel l5 to.the calf wheel of the hoisting mechanism, whetherthe latter be arranged in the of rigging. In this event the chain 33 maybe unit which may be opermid-Continental or California type therefore,be I with removed and the shaft l5 uncoupled from the rotary so that thehoist may be operated without running the rotary. The change speedmechanism also enables the emergency hoisting mechanism to be operatedat selected speeds best suited for the emergenc By having the changespeed mechanism mounted directly on the engine or on its base, thenecessity of a flexible coupling is avoided inasmuch as the change speedmechanism is in a unitary structure with the engine casing.

What we claim is:-

1. Well drilling apparatus comprising a base, a rotary and a reversibleengine, both mounted on said base, a two' speed transmission mountedbetween said engine and said rotary, a coupling between said two speedtransmission and said rotary, a sprocket two speed transmission and asprocket between said coupling and said rotary. 2. Well drillingapparatus comprising a base. a rotary and a reversible engine, bothmounted on said base, a two speed transmission between said engine andsaid rotary, a coupling, comprising a pair of coaxially arrangedsprocket wheels and a chain having pins spanning ,said sprocket wheelsbetween the teeth of said wheels, each of said coupling sprockets havinga driving sprocket integral therewith.

between said coupling and said 3. Well drilling apparatus comprising abase,

, 2,116,297 3 said two speed transmission and one between said mountedon said base, a two speed transmission coupling and said rotary. betweensaid engine and said rotary, aicoupling 4. Well drilling apparatus whichcomprises a between said rotary and said two sped transbase, a. rotary,and a reversible engine, both mission, and means for connecting saidrotary mounted on said base, a two speed transmission to a second meansfor driving said rotary. 5 having a shaft aligned with the drive shaftof 6. Well drilling apparatus which comprises a said engine, means toclutch said shaft to said base, a rotary and a reversible engine bothengine directly and speed multiplying gearing mounted on said base, atwo speed transmission through which said shaft may be coupled albetweensaid engine and said rotary, a coupling ternatively to the drive shaftof said engine, a between said two speed transmission and said 10coupling between said rotary and said shaft of rotary, and means betweensaid coupling and said said two speed transmission, a sprocket keyed ontwo speed transmission for driving mechanisms the shaftof said two speedtransmission and a from the latter. second sprocket keyed on the shaftof said rotary. JOHN E. BRANI'LY.

5. Well drilling apparatus which comprises a JOHN M. SHIMER. 15 base, areversible engine and a rotary both

